Call For Contributors!

  January 2023

I am currently gathering research for and preparing to write and publish, “Evolution: The Story of the U.S. Army Parachute Team Through the Years.”  If you are or have been a Golden Knight of any time period, I am respectfully requesting your input and assistance gathering information for this book. 

Please continue reading to learn mote about the project and how you may become a contributor. All contributors will earn a listing in the Contributor Section of the book accompanied by their photo and a short bio as well as receiving a complimentary and personalized copy of the book when it is published.

Here is how this project came to be.

Although, I am not a Golden Knight, I have deep roots with the Team going back to my first days as a young jumper with the XVIII Airborne Corps Sport Parachuting Club at Fort Bragg in the early Sixties. I have been a member of the skydiving community for 60 years. Many of my original instructors and jumpmasters were early Team members.

Recently, I was invited to attend the Golden Knights Alumni Association Reunion at Raeford. In so doing, as an author and publisher, I was curious as to what relevant book titles existed about the Team. Consequently, I discovered that the last book of any merit was published in 1990. That was thirty-two years ago. Discovering that, I began to float the idea of producing a new book almost immediately. One major reason that I have is that I believe that I can tell the story of the Team’s evolution across the years in a way that is relevant to both current and past Team members, and that the book will become not only an accurate account of the Team’s history but an important Team keepsake as well. 

I am writing and publishing the book as a voluntary activity, and once published, I will make the book available to the Golden Knights Alumni Association at my cost.  I must stress that I am not writing this book out of any sense of profit. I see it as my contribution to the sport that has taken up so much of my life and as a tribute to those who represent the best that the U.S. Army has to offer. 

I am very excited about the project. But I cannot do this without your help! I need every scrap of information, every photo I can find, every story you want to share about your time on the Team. You have my personal assurance that my foremost goal is to protect the Team’s professional image and its illustrious status. At the same time, I want you to know that I want to share your memories in a way that endears the book to you, your families and your friends.

Whatever you share with me, please do not worry that you may not be a writer. That’s my job. Just tell me your story in your own words.  I cannot promise that I will use everything I am offered. Whatever I do use, I will not use without your express permission in writing. Do not think that what you may offer is not important. Please let me make that decision.

In closing, below you will find two documents. One, a pdf, is the Project Description and Outline, and it describes how I envision the book project now. I must note that the description is fluid and probably will change. I also must note that the book is being prepared, written and published as an independent endeavor exclusive of any official Department of Defense or Golden Knights Alumni Association endorsement. 

The other is an editable Word document, the Interview Questionnaire.  The idea behind it is that you can download it, fill it out telling me about your time and experiences on the Team, and then you send it back to me for review. I will then contact you and arrange a time that I can interview you by phone and further explore your contribution.

Please know that I am open to and welcome any suggestions that will make the book one you will treasure. Remember, too, that I am preparing this book for the Golden Knights first. The more you can contribute, the more the book becomes yours!

Please remember that the way to become a contributor is to download the Interview Questionnaire, fill it out and send it back to me. Preferably, as soon as possible.

Thank you in advance for your help and your time!

Mike